


portrait of a siren

by softshocks



Category: TWICE (Band)
Genre: F/F, mermaid au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-08
Updated: 2017-01-08
Packaged: 2018-09-15 18:41:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,196
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9250691
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/softshocks/pseuds/softshocks
Summary: The most beautiful creature Jeongyeon has ever laid her eyes on makes her way to Jeongyeon’s canvas.





	

**Author's Note:**

> tiny jeongmi #2!!!! 
> 
> Title from a chapter of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Beautiful and Damned. I was reading it and was like holy SHIYET this is a good title name
> 
> Im laughing i was listening to the finding nemo [nemo egg score](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9AfYK1fKngU) on loop writing this so like. Naturally i would cry once in a while
> 
> (1-3-18) HEY @NOJAMDOODLES ON TWT DREW [THIS](http://archiveofourown.org/works/9211907) AND @PABOBEAR ON TWT AND AO3 WITH [THIS](https://twitter.com/pabobear/status/927357931867209733)

The room isn’t doing her any good and it seems as if Jeongyeon’s productivity levels stoop to unbelievable lows while she’s in her studio, surrounded by her own art - faces and still life staring right back at her. 

Jeongyeon decides she’s had enough of running face-first into walls, she’s had enough of her brushing dipping into water because she has nothing to paint, absolutely nothing.

So she goes. Calls up Nayeon and asks if she can borrow her yacht by the docks. _Anything for you,_ Nayeon tells her. Then she packs her things - places her tubes of oil paint into its leather case, shoves a week’s worth of clothing into a gym bag. She brings seven blank canvasses, one for each day and a stack of paper, some pencils. Her easel is disassembled and is strapped to the back of car.

So she leaves. Her tank is half-empty already so she has it refilled at the station, purchasing some food to pack on the way. Jeongyeon is too lazy to cook proper food, though she does buy some meat and rice - Nayeon probably has unused ingredients in her yacht.

So she arrives. Jeongyeon doesn’t even unpack her things before she sets up on the port, the breeze blowing into her hair accompanied by the sound of seagulls, the wood creaking underneath her and small waves crashing into each other.

So she sits, waits for inspiration to come by first drawing the horizon’s lines with a 1B pencil. Then she paints the hues - today the sky is orange with tinges of pink hidden behind clouds that look like spun cotton candy.

It’s coming out nicely, Jeongyeon thinks. Solitude and the outside world is doing her well, being able to breathe the sea instead of acrylic paint and wood dust in her studio. The rush comes to her, when Jeongyeon likes what she’s making - her hand moving to finish her work, fast but with finesse.

She’s too engrossed in the painting that Jeongyeon barely realizes that she’s painting a girl, a few meters from the edge of the canvas but definitely at the rather deep part of the water. It takes one look to get the girl’s hair right then another see how pale her skin is and then one last look to see that there is a girl, in the water, looking back up at curiously Jeongyeon.

Jeongyeon stares right back, hand halted at the canvas. There is no sound except the sea, though it may be the nervous thundering in Jeongyeon’s ears.

“Um.” Jeongyeon starts. “Can I help you?”

The girl only stares for a few moments more before diving back into the water with barely a splash. She never comes back up.

Well. That certainly was interesting.

Jeongyeon finishes the painting and takes a quick nap on the yacht, dreams of a girl with brown hair staring at her from the water.

In the morning, she names canvas number one ‘ _Unnamed Horizon Girl’._

 

-

 

She decides for some oil practice today, truly one of the art styles whose process Jeongyeon favors less, even if its end result is, if done properly, beautiful.

There’s a small _plop_ from the water, and it’s the girl again, looking up at Jeongyeon.

They stare at the other after Jeongyeon smiles kindly, until—

“ _Nani o shite imasuka?”_

Oh, her voice — it was so beautiful, like the most beautiful chord played by every single instrument in the planet. Jeongyeon is in love already.

The girl waits for her response as she racks her brain for a proper response, even if it’s not one that will answer the girl in the water’s question. _That’s Japanese_ , Jeongyeon recognizes, so she rushes a small: “ _Wakarimasen deshita.”_ Jeongyeon explains, then points to herself. “ _Kankokujin desu. Kankokugo o hanashimasu.”_

The girl tilts her head. Jeongyeon expects her to say more and honestly, she’s not sure if she could exhaust her minimal Japanese conversational skills further, but to her surprise, the girl dives back into the water without a word even before Jeongyeon could ask her name.

She settles to paint the water ripples the girl leaves and names it ‘ _水の天使’. Water angel._

 

-

 

The small _plop_ of water is back when Jeongyeon’s setting up, a box of charcoal beside her and canvas number three standing before her.

“ _Ohayō_ ,” greets Jeongyeon, turning to the girl in the water before cleaning her hands with a small towel. Charcoal can be messy, with the black pigment sticking to the underside of her palm.

“ _Annyeong,_ ” the girl replies, coming much closer to the dock. It’s the same amount of beauty the first time Jeongyeon heard her speak, the most beautiful chord played by every instrument in the world.

“You understand me?” asks Jeongyeon, genuinely puzzled.

The girl nods. Doesn’t explain further. She’s beautiful too, Jeongyeon noticed, even if from afar it had been obvious that she was. She stands to come closer but the girl moves away, treads further. She’s skittish and Jeongyeon _hates_ herself for moving so suddenly so Jeongyeon stays where she is, still as one can be and asks, not unkindly, “What’s your name?”

There’s a moment of hesitation, then a quiet, “Mina,” that’s almost lost in the sound of the waves, but it gets to Jeongyeon, the sound of Mina’s voice saying her name wrapping around her comfortingly. Like her name is holy, and Jeongyeon repeats it, reverently.

Mina dives back in when she hears Jeongyeon say her name, not because she’s afraid but it seems as if she has nothing to say.

Jeongyeon draws a large-scale version of Mina on the black canvas, at the exact moment she tells Jeongyeon her name. She sketches it with utmost care, precision in each stroke, remembering how it sounded like heaven when Mina had spoken. It’s a negative portrait, the water black but Mina as pale as the canvas’ absence of color.

Jeongyeon names canvas number three ‘ _Sacred Name_ ’.

 

-

 

There’s a girl that goes missing in the town. Jeongyeon visits to buy some vegetables and overhears the locals talk about it. They’re very sad. She’s very well-loved from what Jeongyeon can gather. Her name’s Sejeong, and some say she was taken by mermaids.

The next time Mina observes her painting, just still life for now, Jeongyeon is closer to the water. Mina is closer to the land. For the past few days, it was always short bursts of time when Jeongyeon sees her, though now Mina spends an hour or more just watching Jeongyeon draw or paint.

“Do you know Sejeong?” Jeongyeon asks, genuinely curious if local folklore were telling the truth. She’s very sure Mina is a mermaid, from the way there’s a hint of silver wherever she goes.

Jeongyeon expects no response, only some more staring, though Mina surprises her, as always. “Yes, I know her.”

“Is she okay?”

Mina smiles, a small one but a beautiful one nonetheless, and Jeongyeon knows canvas number five will be about her.

“Yes.” Mina answers.

“Okay,” replies Jeongyeon, giving Mina a grin of her own. “I’m glad.”

Mina stays for three more hours, with small intervals of swimming around. Jeongyeon sees more of the silver that follows Mina and figures that that’s her tail.

She adds a little silver to the corner of the finished product - because Jeongyeon finds it absurd to not name a canvas something about her muse when all her recent works were dedicated to Mina. Then she calls canvas number four ‘ _Haven of the Silvertails_ ’ and figures Mina isn’t the only one of her kind though Jeongyeon figures that Mina was not alone but was lonely; lonely enough to be spending many hours with Jeongyeon, barely speaking besides a few comments about the art and the weather.

 

-

 

Mina is there before Jeongyeon can even go for her morning run along the shore so Jeongyeon settles to keep Mina company, her ankles into the water while Mina stays a few feet away. 

They talk, now. Mina asks many things about Jeongyeon’s life, and, well, Jeongyeon asks about everything too, asks if it’s okay for her to paint Mina.

“Paint what of me?” asks Mina. “I am aware that human artists paint the entire body, but…” She trails off, pointing to the water where Jeongyeon assumes the rest of her body is.

“I was sort of thinking your face though I’m not opposed to that,” Jeongyeon tells her honestly. “You’re… you’re very beautiful.”

Mina _actually_ blushes, ducking her head slightly; a deep red that extends to the top of her uncovered breasts.

“Will you be angry if I allow only my face?”

Jeongyeon pales, her hands waving in panic. “Oh, no no no, definitely not!” She takes her canvas, sets it on her lap and gets to work.

Mina’s face is pensive but her gaze is intense, watching Jeongyeon work quickly. The water is warm as it splashes into her ankles, some small waves crashing into the rocks Jeongyeon is sitting on.

It’s an oil painting and Jeongyeon is done before she knows it. Not once did Mina look bored in the two hours she’s worked on a detailed portrait of Mina, and when Mina floats closer she’s ecstatic when she sees it. The corners of her eyes are shiny, and Jeongyeon realizes Mina is crying diamonds that sink deep into the water. Jeongyeon couldn’t care less, because Mina crying was the last thing she wants.

“Don’t cry, please,” Jeongyeon coos. She comes closer, for the first time, and when she touches Mina’s face, her skin is cool but there’s an undercurrent of something Jeongyeon can’t name. It’s warm and it runs through her - from her the pads of her fingers to the ends of her toes. “It’s beautiful. You’re beautiful.”

Mina only nods, her hand touches Jeongyeon’s. It’s there again, the warmth in her veins only magnified in feeling. Jeongyeon’s heart beats madly in her chest, painfully so. Each beat crashes into another like a wave and Jeongyeon, a city girl, feels at home at the outskirts of a small town by the sea than her penthouse in Seoul.

Mina leaves later, silver trailing her. Jeongyeon names canvas five, ‘ _Portrait of a Siren’_ , and immediately dubs this as her finest work.

 

-

 

One thing Jeongyeon notices often is Mina dipping her head into the water to keep her hair out of her face. She’s visibly irritated by it, her dark hair even made darker by its perpetual dampness.

So Jeongyeon makes her a comb clip, made out of the dead soft shell clams on the beach before heading to the docks. There are beads that decorate it, tiny shells she embedded into the sand. She carves ‘みな’ on the thickest part with a knife.

In the morning, she sweeps back Mina’s hair away from her face and places the comb clip, slipping into her shoulder-length strands.

“There,” says Jeongyeon, satisfied with herself. It looks great on Mina. “It looks very nice on you.”

“Thank you,” replies Mina, timidly, touching the accessory. “Do you do this with all your lovers?”

That catches Jeongyeon off guard - she ends up sputtering, feeling heat creep up her neck. “W-what? All—all _my lovers?”_

Mina tilts her head in confusion. “You do not have other lovers?”

“Oh, no no no,” Jeongyeon rushes out. “I don’t even have _one._ ”

Hurt flashes through Mina’s eyes, dark now though Jeongyeon had seen it turn blue and silver on different occasions. “Am I not your lover?”

She seriously considers saying yes, considers humoring Mina when it hadn’t actually crossed her mind until now that she’d take a _mermaid_ as a lover. However - “No, Mina. I’m sorry. We’re not lovers.”

“Oh.” The other girl deflates visibly. “I apologize. I must have mistaken your token for a token of _affection._ ”

“It is, but…” Explaining _platonic_ gift giving isn’t really right up her alley. It’s more of Chaeyoung’s — oh _god if only Chaeyoung could be here._

“It’s all right, don’t fret. I misunderstood.” Mina reassures, as if she hadn’t been rejected. “But—”

“I’d like to be.”

Mina furrows her brow. “Pardon?”

“Your lover. I’d like to be lovers.” She leans closer and touches the clip on Mina’s hair. The heady warmth that comes with touching Mina rushes through her veins. “I’d like _this_ to be a token of affection.” 

She forgets to paint anything that day. Jeongyeon only revels in the sunshine, watching Mina swim around.

 

-

 

“Chew on this,” Mina tells her. It’s some sort of kelp resting in the palm of her pale hand. Jeongyeon should think twice before taking it and biting, but she doesn’t.

The plant is salty, like the sea. “What is this?” She asks around a mouthful of kelp.

Mina ignores her question. Jeongyeon doesn’t mind, because Mina looks eager for _something_ , the moonlight casting a glow on her that makes her ethereal. She swoons, silently, with a mouthful of kelp. “Are you done?”

She nods. “Ye—” 

Then Mina takes her wrist and hauls her into the dark water.

She holds in her breath as a reflex, but it turns into bubbles when the air exits her lungs because Mina—oh, _Mina._

It’s a sight she will never forget: the dark water surrounding them, Mina practically glowing and she has a tail, the silver tail she’d always gotten glimpses of. She’s beautiful, so beautiful that Jeongyeon would have cried if she weren’t underwater. She’s ethereal, beautiful beyond Jeongyeon’s comprehension and vocabulary.

“Breathe, Jeongyeon,” her voice. Oh, _her voice._ It echoes slightly, like there were layers of Mina’s voice caressing her ear when she speaks. “You can breathe. Trust me.”

Jeongyeon does. Inhales. The water rushes inside her mouth but it’s not painful or intrusive. She should be drowning but she isn’t.

“Welcome,” Mina says. She’s many meters away but Jeongyeon hears her loud and clear all the same. She swims closer, however, closer to Jeongyeon and now they’re nearly entwined, swimming in circles and the light dances around them so beautifully, painting broad strokes of white that moves with the waves.

Welcome to _what,_ Jeongyeon doesn’t know. To Mina’s world, probably; a glimpse of what Jeongyeon might never have come to know until this very moment that she breathes in the water as easily as Mina can.

Jeongyeon kicks the water to move closer, closer than ever. She holds Mina’s face in her hands and pulls her in, presses their lips together in a cool kiss that tastes like the sea, in a kiss that tastes like kelp and the sea sings around them when they do. 

The sea sings around them and Jeongyeon falls in love.

She returns to the yacht that night, gathers the blue and white shades of acrylic paint and canvas number six. She paints what the surface of the sea looks like from ten meters below. The light of the moon is bent but it passes still, dances before their eyes and on their skin.

Jeongyeon names it ‘ _The Kiss of the Sea and its Orchestra’._

 

-

 

Jeongyeon’s gone from home for a month before she knows it and they’re seriously worried. She knows she has to come home soon, but swimming every night with Mina - kissing her under water and kissing her above water and kissing her, just kissing her and touching her is just too much of a sacrifice if she ever does return.

Home is painful to remember, achingly so. She does miss her family and her friends and her studio. Art doesn’t feel like hitting a wall anymore.

Mina senses this change easily, when Jeongyeon is quiet and staring out into the sea. “You are sad here,” Mina says when she’s closer. No resentment resides on her face, only pure concern. There’s small splashing from her tail. Jeongyeon’s heart constricts in her chest.

“I miss home,” says Jeongyeon. She touches the water with her fingertips, remembers that she hasn’t spoken to Seungyeon or Chaeyoung, even Nayeon who owns the yacht she lives in.

“Then go home.” The other girl replies simply. “I will not have you miserable, with me. Please, Jeongyeon.” Mina comes closer, close enough to press their foreheads together. Jeongyeon can’t meet Mina’s eyes, because if she does, she might never ever leave.

“I want to be with you.”

Pain crosses Mina’s face, genuine pain that Jeongyeon’s sure is mirrored on her own.

“But you do not belong here,” says Mina. It was true. Jeongyeon is a city girl, an artist with a penthouse—the life of a hermit in a small town by the sea does not suit her. “Your heart is not here.”

“My heart is with _you_ ,” protests Jeongyeon, one that Mina does not contest. They both know it is the truth.

Chuckling somberly, Mina taps Jeongyeon’s temple. “Unfortunately, this is not.”

“I want to stay,” she says weakly. “I want to be with you. I’ll… I’ll do anything.”

“You still have much things in life, my love,” Mina tells her, smooths down Jeongyeon’s hair from the wind blowing at it. “I will not allow you to waste it on me.”

Before Jeongyeon can say anything more, Mina speaks again. She hooks a thumb under Jeongyeon’s chin, for their eyes to meet. “You will come back here, yes? When you know you have lived your life fully, come find me.”

They part, but not without tears and rushed kisses that tasted like the worst goodbyes - though it was still delicious, and Jeongyeon is delirious with melancholy by the time it’s all over.

That night, Jeongyeon doesn’t paint. She only weeps - weeps that she is not the sea’s daughter, weeps that she is not made for a life of solitude, weeps that when she leaves they are worlds apart, quite literally.

It occurs to her if she had done what Sejeong, the missing girl did. If she’d give herself to the ocean, to be with Mina. If she’d say goodbye to the city, to the land, to everything she had ever known to be with Mina.

It would be difficult, but for Mina she would.

Perhaps the only hurdle is Mina, how she would disagree and probably hate Jeongyeon forever.

She doesn’t want that. It would be unfair to her family, her friends, and to Mina.

Jeongyeon cries harder but she packs her things, nonetheless. 

 

-

 

She’s out to see the dock, one last time before she boards her car.

Then she sees it; it’s very hard to miss, since it glints in the sunlight.

On the wooden planks lay a paintbrush. Its bristles are fine; its ferrule is made of silver and the handle is made of pearl with an inscription:

 

起

死

回

生

 

Below it is a smaller inscription, now in Hangul.

 

_Come out of a difficult situation and return completely in one sudden burst._

_Return when you are ready. I will wait. -_ _みな_

 

Jeongyeon smiles, tears streaking down her cheeks, before she kneels and keeps the brush in her leather case. She makes a note, at the back of her mind, to make a special case for this brush - one that reminds Jeongyeon of Mina’s silver tail. 

The sea bids her goodbye, but Jeongyeon says to the water, to the wind, to the horizon and to Mina: “I’ll see you again.”

**Author's Note:**

> the sejeong cameo is dedicated to izzy (also, it's a nod to something. hehehe)
> 
> and thank u to emilia for listening to me scream about this and the nemo soundtrack
> 
> TBH IDK WHAT THIS IS BUT HAVE IT
> 
> All mistakes in japanese are mine, forgive me, i got a c+ in my japanese language course. i tried tho


End file.
